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Did Al Gore Say He Invented the Internet?

Gore had been involved with computers since the 1970s, first as a Congressman and later as Senator and Vice President, where he was a "genuine nerd, with a geek reputation running back to his days as a futurist Atari Democrat in the House. Before computers were comprehensible, let alone sexy, the poker-faced Gore struggled to explain artificial intelligence and fiber-optic networks to sleepy colleagues."[1] According to Campbell-Kelly and Aspray (Computer: A History of the Information Machine), up until the early 1990s public usage of the Internet was limited and the "problem of giving ordinary Americans network access had exercised Senator Al Gore since the late 1970s."[2]

Of Gore's involvement in the then-developing Internet while in Congress, Internet pioneers Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn have also noted that,

As far back as the 1970s Congressman Gore promoted the idea of high-speed telecommunications as an engine for both economic growth and the improvement of our educational system. He was the first elected official to grasp the potential of computer communications to have a broader impact than just improving the conduct of science and scholarship [...] the Internet, as we know it today, was not deployed until 1983. When the Internet was still in the early stages of its deployment, Congressman Gore provided intellectual leadership by helping create the vision of the potential benefits of high speed computing and communication. As an example, he sponsored hearings on how advanced technologies might be put to use in areas like coordinating the response of government agencies to natural disasters and other crises.[3]

Indeed, Kleinrock would later credit both Gore and the Gore Bill as a critical moment in Internet history:

A second development occurred around this time, namely, then-Senator Al Gore, a strong and knowledgeable proponent of the Internet, promoted legislation that resulted in President George H.W Bush signing the High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991. This Act allocated $600 million for high performance computing and for the creation of the National Research and Education Network [13–14]. The NREN brought together industry, academia and government in a joint effort to accelerate the development and deployment of gigabit/sec networking.[7]

The bill was passed on Dec. 9, 1991 and led to the National Information Infrastructure (NII)[8] which Gore referred to as the "information superhighway". President George H. W. Bush predicted that the bill would help "unlock the secrets of DNA," open up foreign markets to free trade, and a promise of cooperation between government, academia, and industry.[9]
Prior to its passage, Gore discussed the basics of the bill in an article for the September 1991 issue of Scientific American entitled Scientific American presents the September 1991 Single Copy Issue: Communications, Computers, and Networks. His essay, "Infrastructure for the Global Village", commented on the lack of network access described above and argued: "Rather than holding back, the U.S. should lead by building the information infrastructure, essential if all Americans are to gain access to this transforming technology"[10] [...] "high speed networks must be built that tie together millions of computers, providing capabilities that we cannot even imagine."[11]
Perhaps one of the most important results of the Gore Bill was the development of Mosaic in 1993.[12][13] This World Wide Web browser is credited by most scholars as beginning the Internet boom of the 1990s:
Gore's legislation also helped fund the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois, where a team of programmers, including Netscape founder Marc Andreessen, created the Mosaic Web browser, the commercial Internet's technological springboard. 'If it had been left to private industry, it wouldn't have happened,' Andreessen says of Gore's bill, 'at least, not until years later.'[14]Vice President and Information Superhighway

What its prominence suggest, and what all science confirms is that the dog is a creature of the nose- A. Horowitz.

During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet.
Al Gore

He did, but you might want to look at the full quote in context. He was discussing his legislative accomplishments in the Senate and noting that he had played a leading role in legislation making the Internet possible. In his 1999 interview with Wolf Blitzer, he noted "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country's economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system."

He did, but you might want to look at the full quote in context. He was discussing his legislative accomplishments in the Senate and noting that he had played a leading role in legislation making the Internet possible. In his 1999 interview with Wolf Blitzer, he noted "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country's economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system."

He deserves credit for making it available to the public. "Invent" might be a stretch, but the co-inventor of the internet protocol told me in person that Al Gore deserves credit.

He deserves credit for making it available to the public. "Invent" might be a stretch, but the co-inventor of the internet protocol told me in person that Al Gore deserves credit.

Steve,

If he did it was not in the Wolf Blitzer interview which is the one always quoted. I've read the transcript several times and there is no ambiguity at all about what he is saying. However, without legislative support, the "Internet" would still be an academic and military networking protocol operating in the shadows of Novell and similar proprietary protocols. That legislative input was critical. He also never used the term "invent" as far as I can tell. That was a term used by those seeking to ridicule his efforts as part of the political campaign.

If he did it was not in the Wolf Blitzer interview which is the one always quoted. I've read the transcript several times and there is no ambiguity at all about what he is saying. However, without legislative support, the "Internet" would still be an academic and military networking protocol operating in the shadows of Novell and similar proprietary protocols. That legislative input was critical. He also never used the term "invent" as far as I can tell. That was a term used by those seeking to ridicule his efforts as part of the political campaign.

At this point it is hard to tell what he did or did not say. The conventional wisdom or urban legend attributes Al Gore with claiming to invent the internet. My post was not intended to dimish his roll. Al Gore deserves credit for is legislative efforts in making the Internet free and public.

Well then i thank Al Gore for one thing because Novell needs to die. Way to complicated and archaic to be even close to as efficient as its counterparts. Sure it does somethings well but you have to pay someone 6 figures to admin it lol.

Wotta guy! It's no wonder why the 'lefties' that enjoy fawning over sleeze continue to run this nation into the ground.

We are about a step away from becoming another Greece. The SFN crowd will be running rampant because what they've been promised can't be delivered.

Sadly, the SFN crowd doesn't realize they have the power in a democracy to change what's happening, but they are so brain-washed, they continue to pull the crank for what put them, and keeps them, IN the SFN crowd.

UB

When the one you love becomes a memory, that memory becomes a treasure.